lidar

or LI·DAR

[ lahy-dahr ]

/ ˈlaɪ dɑr /

noun Electronics, Optics.

a device similar to radar in principle and operation but using infrared laser light instead of radio waves and capable of detecting particles, distant objects, and varying physical conditions in the atmosphere.

Nearby words

Origin of lidar

1960–65; li(ght¹) + (ra)dar

Also called laser radar.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for lidar

And so, in marches of about ten miles a day, we came to Pahlgam on the banks of the dancing Lidar.
The Ninth Vibration And Other Stories|L. Adams Beck
There are many other important active sensor classes, three of which are active acoustics, lidar and magnetic anomaly detectors.
Shock and Awe|Harlan K. Ullman
Lidar detects shape directly and shape fluctuations such as vibration and motion and has proven very hard to spoof.
Shock and Awe|Harlan K. Ullman
A favourite side-valley is the Lidar, for which the road takes off from the main valley at Bijbehara.
Kashmir|Sir Francis Edward Younghusband

Islamabad is the starting-point for both the Lidar valley and Martand, and here the house-boat may be left.
Kashmir|Sir Francis Edward Younghusband

Science definitions for lidar

lidar

[ lī′där ]

A method of detecting distant objects and determining their position, velocity, or other characteristics by analysis of pulsed laser light reflected from their surfaces. Lidar operates on the same principles as radar and sonar.

The equipment used in such detection. See also Doppler effect radar sonar.